Sunday, January 8, 2012

2012 Short Story Challenge

This year, I've decided to dedicate more time to a wonderful way of telling tales: the short story. To do this, I thought "oh, I should sign up to a challenge" but alas, the only short story challenge I've found counts stories by anthologies (click here to sign-up for that challenge). So, I've decided to run one myself! What is a short story? Short stories are works of fiction, often written in prose. They tend to be more pointed, focused, and contained than novels. Why do short stories matter? The short story is one of the most exciting and important literary forms, and that it can, and should, reach the widest possible readership. Where can I find short stories? Anywhere and everywhere. Anthologies, magazines, newspapers, and even on-line. Still interested? Then take a look at the must-read details: The 2012 Short Story Challenge runs January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2012. You can sign up at any time. You do NOT need a blog to sign up - just somewhere online to monitor your progress (personal blog, goodreads, facebook, twitter, etc.) But please post something that shows you are participating in the challenge - it doesn't have to be a full post, a link/tweet/sidebar listing is enough! You need to read at least 12 short stories. Ain't that easy? Easy peasy. That's one short story a month. Of course, you can choose to read more than 12. Why would you want to? Well, because short stories are brilliant. There will a giveaways! I'll be giving away two anthologies over the course of the year for challenge participants.